I have been asked to conduct an in-service this summer on Web 2.0 tools. Please help me formulate a list of essential tools that I can introduce to these teachers. Most do not use much if ANY technology in their rooms currently so I need to keep it very simple. I want to really drill into five or six things that they will immediately want to use. I don't want to overwhelm them and have them go away thinking they could never use any of it. I plan to introduce them to the Ning of course as a venue for great ideas and possibly Twitter. I want to show them Skype because I've used it so much this year. Would love to get into blogs and wikis. What else do you all think and what clients are most user friendly?

Tags: 20, teachers, tools, training, web

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Hi Tamra:

Enjoy

Brian
AssistiveTek Blog
do not forget use wordle with wordsift.com
I'm taking a closer look at wordle because this is the second time it's been mentioned. I'd be interested in hearing how people use it in the classroom.
IMO Wordle and in most cases Animoto are 'one shot deals'. It'll be hard to justify too much time for multiple uses. Sometimes I show stuff to the kids, we use it once for a project and then they can explore them at home.

If you want bang for the buck (free) try Scratch, Alice, Google Earth, and Google Sketchup. Some real high level thinking goes on there. Let me know if you want more info. There is also a free application called Atmosphir where students develop video games.
My teachers have used Wordle in several different ways. Some have introduced it to students by having them type in words about themselves and hanging them on classroom doors or in the room. Two 4th grade teachers had their students type in things about their moms for a mother's day gift. One of my 6th grade teachers had her students put a writing sample in to look at over used words (make sure you turn on the leave in English common words feature). Another 6th grade teacher used wordle in a Photo Story report. The students typed their reports, found pictures for the photo story (the reports were about a planet), put the report into Wordle. We took a screen shot, pasted it into PPT, cropped and sized the wordle and saved as a jpg. It was the last slide in the Photo Story. The students then recorded their reports into the Photo Story.

We had some 5th graders look up famous speeched they had studied in Social Studies and paste them into Wordle and then discuss the words used most and how they related to the theme of the speech.

I have suggested to teachers to use this in class when introducing a historical document, speech or piece of literature.
Wow! Exactly the type of uses I was looking for. I will definitely mention this tool. Thanks, Lynda.
I love the Wordle idea, Lynda!

To save insert a PPT slide into Photostory, is it as simple as "save as" jpg?
Yes, it is pretty simple. In PPT go to save as and then under file type scroll down to jpg. It will ask you if you want to save the current slide or all slides. If you have several it will save each one as a separate jpg. After that you just go to Photo Story and pull the jpg. in just like the pictures.

This is is good way to make text slides for Photo Story too. Lets you be more creative - using word art etc than doing the text in Photo Story.
I made a list (my own personal beliefs) at shortcomp.edublogs.org Click on the 30W60DITT link at the top.
Very interesting reading throughout the blog. Thanks!
Kelley and Nancy are on the money regarding staff training. Teachers need to look at their curriculum/ learning goals and how technology can differentiate instruction in content/process/product. Finding teacher blogs in their speciality might go a long way into tapping into models of reflective practice, exploration, and risk-taking.

As for specific tools, how about Edmondo? It's a site teachers unfamiliar with Web 2.0 might like...I also would include some web-based imaging tools since they will need some basic skills if they want to incorporate images into the blogs and wikis. Resizing (plus): http://www.picresize.com/ and picnik http://www.picnik.com/ (no registration required).
Please feel free to use any of the tools I blogged about. My blog can be found at http://iteach20.blogspot.com/

I focus my writing on practical web 2.0 ideas for educators to implement into their classroom. They are presented in a way as to not scare teachers away from technology, but show them that it can be utilized. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me. All the best!

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